Fire At Sunny's
by GreenWiggle2018
Summary: A fire breaks out in the salon, forcing Sunny and her friends to temporarily relocate to other jobs, all the while wondering how the fire even started.


**Fire At Sunny's**

* * *

A.N. This story is dedicated to the valiant individuals serving in the New South Wales Rural Fire Service who risk and sacrificed their lives in their courageous fight against the ongoing bushfires in Australia.

A.N.2. Shoutout to BigMoose01 for the names of Sunny's parents.

* * *

One gorgeous day at Sunny Day's salon, Sunny and her friends Blair, Rox, and her dog Doodle were getting ready for the day's work.

"Here we go again, guys." Sunny said as she put the "Open" sign on the door. "Another day ahead of us. You guys ready?"

"Yup." replied Blair.

"Oh, yeah." added Rox.

Pretty soon, the salon was buzzing with activity. Just as one customer left, another one came in. This customer was their friend Timmy.

"Hi, Timmy." greeted Sunny.

"Hi, Sunny." repeated Timmy.

"The usual?" Sunny asked.

"Yup." replied Timmy, sitting down in a barber chair. "Just take a little off the top and clean it up around the edges."

"You got it." Sunny smiled as she put the cape around Timmy.

Once the cape was on, Sunny got to work, and was soon finished.

"What do you think?" Sunny inquired as she gave Timmy the mirror.

Timmy looked at his reflection and was pleased with what he saw.

"Sunny, my friend, you've done it again." Timmy praised, smiling.

"That's great." Sunny replied, smiling as she undid the cape.

Just then, Timmy smelled something.

"Hey, can you something?" he asked.

Sunny sniffed the air.

"Yeah, I do." came her reply. "What a strange smell."

Just then, Doodle saw smoke.

"Uh-oh." he observed. "That doesn't look good."

"What doesn't look good?" Rox inquired as she came down the elevator.

Doodle pointed, and when they look, they saw the smoke. All were horrified.

"Holy Toledo!" said Timmy. "Fire!"

Sunny pulled the fire alarm.

"Everybody out!" she commanded. "There's a fire!"

"This is not a drill, people!" Rox barked. "I repeat, this is **not** a drill!"

With that, everyone scrambled out of the salon, and soon enough, a fire truck arrived. The fire chief approached Sunny and her friends.

"Is there anyone inside?" he asked.

"No, sir." Sunny informed. "Once we saw the smoke, we got everyone outside, ourselves included."

"Good work, young lady." the chief complimented. "Every second counts."

The chief then turned to his crew.

"Alright, men, let's get this fire out!" he ordered. "Let's go, go, go!"

The firefighters grabbed their hoses and other equipment and charged inside. Sunny, Rox, Blair, Timmy, and Doodle all watched as the firefighters took on the inferno raging within the walls of the salon.

"I can't believe this is happening." exclaimed Rox.

"Yeah, me neither." agreed Blair.

Soon, the fire was out, and the friends watched as the firefighters packed up their gear and left. Sunny gazed sadly upon the state of her salon.

"My poor salon." Sunny sighed. "It's ruined. Well, at least we all managed to escape unharmed."

"That's right." agreed Timmy. "How about we go get some ice cream? My treat."

"Sure, that sounds nice." answered Blair.

"Yeah, maybe that might cheer me up." agreed Sunny.

"Alright, let's go." said Timmy.

With that, the friends went over to the local ice cream parlor, where Sunny had strawberry frozen yogurt drizzled with white chocolate sauce and rainbow sprinkles, Blair had chocolate ice cream with chocolate whipped cream and Mini Oreos, Rox had mint chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge and chocolate sprinkles, Timmy had chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate chips, and Doodle had a plain bowl of vanilla ice cream. While they dined on their delectable frozen desserts, Sunny spoke up.

"We're all going to have to find other jobs to do while the salon is being cleaned up." suggested Sunny.

"You're right." agreed Rox. "But what jobs could we do?"

"Well, my Uncle James and Aunt Carly have been needing extra hands in their library." Sunny replied. "Doodle and I could work there."

"Good idea, Sunny." said Doodle. "I've always been fond of books."

"What about me?" inquired Rox.

"My dad's been looking for help in his auto shop." answered Sunny. "I'll ask him if you can work for him."

"Alright." came Rox's reply. "Thanks."

"And I'll ask Cindy if I can help her in the bakery." announced Blair. "I have a passion for baking."

"It's settled then." Sunny concluded. "That's what we'll do."

It was Timmy's turn to bring something up now.

"You know, there's something about what happened that kinda bugs me a bit." said Timmy.

"What is it, Timmy?" Sunny inquired.

"What the heck happened?" Timmy wondered out loud. "I mean, how did the fire even start?"

"Oh, I know exactly what happened." Doodle proclaimed. "Lacey did this."

Well, everyone was quite surprised indeed.

"Now, why would you think it was her?" Sunny questioned.

"It's obvious." Doodle explained. "She's jealous of how you always win Timmy's competitions while she always loses, so she decided to burn down the salon as an act of revenge."

"That's ludicrous." Rox protested. "You know you can't just accuse her of something like that."

"Yeah, Rox is right." Sunny agreed.

"But what if he's right, and it _was_ her?" Blair pondered.

A fantasy sequence then began, showcasing Lacey placing some newspapers on the floor and pouring some lighter fluid onto them.

"Perfect." Lacey announced as she carried on with this devious deed. "When this salon goes up in flames and burns to the ground, Sunny Day won't be so "sunny" anymore."

Lacey soon finished what she was doing, lit a match, dropped it, and ran outside as the flame met with the flammable liquid. She watched with an evil grin on her face as she watched the building go up in smoke and flames.

"At last!" she cackled. "Revenge is mine!"

Lacey continued to laugh maniacally like the Wicked Witch of The West as the scene faded back to reality.

"Blair, you and I both know that's not true." assured Roxm smiling a reassuring smile. "Even though Lacey isn't the nicest person who ever lived, she isn't 100% evil, either."

"Yeah, and I don't think she would even do anything illegal." chimed in Sunny, smiling as well. "Besides, there isn't any evidence to prove if it was her or not."

"Heck, we don't even know if it was arson or an accident." added Timmy. "The fire department is still investigating. We should probably wait until they release the results of their findings before making any assumptions."

"Good idea." Sunny affirmed.

Just then, Lacey walked in.

"Well, look who decided to join the party." noticed Doodle, his face sporting a scornful look.

"Hello, Sunny, Rox, Blair, Timmy, and Doodle." greeted Lacey.

"Hi, Lacey." Sunny, Rox, Blair, Timmy, and Doodle chorused.

"What's up?" questioned Rox.

"I heard about the fire." Lacey informed. "And I wanted to see how you guys were holding up."

"You mean the fire **you **caused?" Doodle accused.

Lacey was astounded at this remark.

"How dare you make such an accusation against me!" Lacey protested.

"Oh, don't act so shocked." Doodle snarled. "I know you did it, you can bet a million dollars I do. You can say all you want, but you will not get away with this."

"Why do you think I did it?" Lacey asked.

"You know why." said Doodle. "You're jealous that you always lose to Sunny in Timmy's competitions, and you didn't want to face the fact that you just might end up losing to her all the time, so you burnt the salon down as an act of revenge."

"Yes, it is true that I don't like losing to Sunny all the time like you said, but I would never do anything that would be against the law." Lacey argued. "Even I have my limits."

"She's got a point, Doodle." Timmy quipped.

"She's lying." Doodle interjected. "I know a liar when I see one. You might as well give up, Lacey."

Lacey was finally fed up with this nonsense.

"Well, if that's how you feel, I'm sorry I even wasted my time coming here." Lacey huffed. "Good day!"

And with that being said, Lacey stormed out of the ice cream parlor. Needless to say, Sunny, Rox, Blair, and Timmy were all furious, and it showed on their faces.

"Doodle-licious Furboy Bark-Bark Waggytail, you should be ashamed of yourself." said Sunny.

"Yeah, that was totally uncalled for." added Rox.

"Come on, guys, you all know how Lacey is." argued Doodle.

"Talk to the hand, Doodle." said Sunny. "I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense. In fact, you can go straight home after you finish your ice cream."

"Fine." Doodle grumbled as he finished his ice cream.

After putting his ice cream cup and spoon into the trash, Doodle headed home, and Sunny followed behind him. Later that evening, Sunny was discussing the situation with her parents, Paula and Bruce, over takeout from Olive Garden.

"Of course she can." Bruce smiled when Sunny asked him about Rox working with him in his auto shop.

"And I'll call Uncle James and Aunt Carly later and ask them if it's okay if you and Doodle work with them at the library." offered Paula.

"Thanks, Mom." came Sunny's jubilant reply.

"No problem." assured Paula.

Later, after dinner, Paula called Uncle James, who, by the way, was Bruce's younger brother, thus making him Paula's brother-in-law and Sunny's paternal uncle, and asked him if Sunny could work at the library he owned with his wife, Carly. Sure enough, he agreed, and thus the arrangements were made, as were the ones for Rox to work at Bruce's auto shop, and the next day, Sunny and Doodle were having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast with Bruce and Paula when the telephone rang.

"Good morning, Day residence." Paula answered as she picked up the handpiece.

On the other end of the line was the fire chief.

"Good morning, Mrs. Day." the chief said. "We finished our investigation."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Paula gasped with delight. "What happened?"

"We'll be coming to your place later to share our findings." the chief explained.

"Oh, okay." Paula replied. "Thanks, chief."

"You're welcome." said the chief.

Paula then hung up the phone.

"Who was that, Mom?" Sunny questioned.

"It was the fire chief." Paula answered. "The fire department has finished their investigation and are coming by later today to share the results."

"Great." praised Sunny.

Bruce then noticed the time on the clock.

"You and Doodle better get going, Sunny." he announced. "The library opens at nine, and you don't wanna be late on your first day, do you?"

"No, Dad." Sunny giggled as she and Doodle walked out the door.

Later that day, Sunny and Doodle were on their lunch break when Sunny decided to call Rox, who answered right away.

"What's up, Sunny?" she greeted.

"Not much, just having some Taco Del Mar for lunch." informed Sunny. "What's up with you?"

"We're just waiting for one of your dad's co-workers to come back with Jimmy John's." replied Rox.

"Yum." Sunny smiled, licking her lips. "So, how's life as a junior mechanic?"

"Pretty sweet, actually." acknowledged Rox. "The guys here are really nice, and they even have a radio playing in the shop. It's on this really neat station that plays all sorts of great hits from the Fifties through the Eighties. Plus, they tell really funny jokes, like this one; Why did the centipede drop off of the basketball game?"

"I don't know." denied Sunny. "Why did the centipede drop off of the basketball team?"

"Because he took too long to tie his shoes!" laughed Rox.

Sunny laughed as well.

"Good one!" Sunny complimented.

"Thanks!" thanked Rox. "How's library life for you?"

"Not too shabby." remarked Sunny. "All we ever do is help people find the right books they're looking for, check books out, re-shelf returned books, stock new books that arrive on the Bookmobile, and even read to little kids who come in for Storytime Hour."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun." declared Rox.

"It is." agreed Sunny. "The kids love it when Doodle mimes the actions of the characters in stories as I read the words."

"Ah, that Doodle." giggled Rox. "He's such a ham."

"Yes, he is." giggled Sunny in return.

But then, Sunny remembered the very reason she had even called Rox in the first place.

"By the way, Rox, the fire chief called earlier. The fire department have finished their investigation, and they're gonna come by later to share what they discovered."

"Oh, nice." commented Rox. "I'll want to hear it. Would it be okay if I dropped by?"

"Absolutely." said Sunny. "You know you, Blair, and Timmy are always welcome at my house."

"Great." said Rox. "And I'll bring Blair and Timmy along so they can hear it for themselves."

"Good call." Sunny agreed. "So, see you later?"

"Totally." Rox confirmed. "Well, I gotta go, Neil's back."

"Alright, see you later." Sunny finished.

Later that day, Sunny, Doodle, and their friends were on the couch in Sunny's living room, waiting for the fire chief to arrive. During the wait, they had some strawberry white chocolate chip cookies from Cindy's bakery and blue raspberry lemonade-flavored Kool-Aid.

"These cookies are scrumptious!" Sunny complimented.

"Yeah, she really outdid herself with these." agreed Timmy.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Come in!" Paula commanded.

The door opened and the fire chief entered. With him was another man who was wearing black thick-rimmed glasses, a dark red sweater vest over a white button-down shirt, khakis, pueple argyle socks, and brown penny loafers.

"This is Mr. Douglas, the Friendly Falls City Fire Investigator." said the chief.

"Pleased to meet you." greeted Mr. Douglas as he shook hands with Bruce and Paula. "And now to business. As you probably know already, we now know what caused the fire at the salon."

"Well, what was it?" Doodle inquired intentively. "Was it arson or what?"

Sunny face-palmed.

"He's never gonna let that go, is he?" she pondered quietly to herself.

"No, it was not arson." informed Mr. Douglas. "But rather, it was a curling iron that was left on by mistake. It overheated and lit up some towels that were next to it. On the upside, there was no serious damage made to the building itself, just a lot of soot all over the place."

Well, at this revelation, Sunny's face grew very sad.

"Oh." she sighed. "I used that curling iron to give Mandy a perm yesterday and forgot to turn it off. I caused the fire."

"Oh, honey, don't blame yourself." Paula comforted.

"Yeah, Sunny, it was a mistake." added Bruce. "A pretty terrible one, albeit, but still a mistake. Besides, curling irons are replaceable, but human lives aren't."

"That's right." agreed Timmy.

These comments made Sunny feel better.

"Thanks, Dad." she smiled as she hugged Bruce.

"It's okay, Sunny." Bruce said.

"And a cleaning service will be coming to clean the place up and make it as good as new." Mr. Douglas chimed in.

"Oh, great!" Sunny beamed.

"Well, I think our time here is up." informed the chief. "Thank you for your time."

"No problem." Bruce replied.

"And remember Sunny, please be more careful when using your equipment, especially curling irons." the chief warned Sunny.

"You got it, chief." assured Sunny.

After the chief and Mr. Douglas left, Sunny looked over at Doodle, who was looking very guilty.

"What's wrong, Doodle?" Sunny asked.

Doodle sighed.

"So Lacey was telling the truth all along. I was wrong to accuse her of starting the fire." Doodle confessed. "I hope you're not still mad at me for that."

"Of course not." Sunny grinned. "Although I do think what you did was a bit unkind, since you admitted that you were wrong, I'm gonna let it slide."

"Really?" Doodle piped.

"Really." Sunny nodded. "But **DON'T** do that again. Understand?"

"I won't." Doodle promised.

"Good." Sunny asserted. "Well, now that that's sorted out, let's go buy a new curling iron."

But then, there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" asked Rox.

Bruce went to the door and opened it. There, standing on the porch, was Lacey, holding a box that had pink ribbon tied onto it.

"Hello, Mr. Day." Lacey greeted. "May I come in?"

"Of course." replied Mr. Day jovially. "Be my guest."

Lacey stepped inside the house and went up to Sunny, to whom she handed the box.

"What's this?" Sunny questioned.

"It's a new curling iron." Lacey answered. "When I heard about the cause of the fire, I went to the store and got it."

"Thanks, Lacey." thanked Sunny. "By the way, Doodle has something to say to you."

"Yes, I do." Doodle admitted. "I'm sorry I accused you of causing the fire, Lacey."

Lacey smiled.

"Apology accepted." she beamed. "In fact, I actually must admit that I guess I can be a bit mean at times."

"No doubt there." Doodle remarked.

Lacey giggled, then looked at her watch.

"Well, I better go." she proclaimed. "It's almost suppertime."

"Indeed it is." agreed Bruce.

With that, everyone said their goodbyes and parted ways, and as a celebration, Sunny and her family went out to dinner at Five Guys. A few days later, the salon had been restored to its former glory, and Sunny and her friends entered the place ready for a fresh start.

"Well, it's good to be back, guys." sighed Sunny happily as she put the "Open" sign on again.

"Indeed it is." remarked Blair. "I will admit, though, I will miss the lovely aromas from the bakery."

"And I'll miss coming home smelling like motor oil." added Rox.

"And I'll miss the kids' happy faces during Story Hour." concluded Sunny. "But, hey, Uncle James said that Doodle and I are more than welcome to come help out at the library anytime, and the same goes for you guys."

"That's nice." Rox replied. "Well, how about some celebratory tunes?"

"Go for it." Sunny ordered.

"Gladly." affirmed Rox.

Rox then turned on the radio, and soon enough, "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams was sounding through the salon.

"Aw, yeah!" cried Blair happily. "Now that's the stuff!"

"Yeah, baby!" agreed Doodle.

Pretty soon, the place was filled with customers and the sounds of the telephone ringing, and as she and her friends started over from their fiery ordeal, Sunny Day vowed to herself that she would never be as negligent with her equipment ever again and she, along with her friends, felt happy to once again be in the place they felt happy the most.

**The End**


End file.
